New Delhi, June 30 (PTI): As the ban on certain single-use plastic items kicks in from Friday (July 1), state governments will initiate an enforcement campaign and close down units engaging in production, distribution, stocking and sale of such items, Union Environment ministry officials said. Violation of the ban will invite punitive action, including a fine or a jail term or both, detailed under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and under bylaws of respective municipal corporations, they said. For effective enforcement of the ban, national and state-level control rooms have been set up and special enforcement teams formed to check illegal manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of banned SUP items, officials in the ministry said. States and Union Territories have been asked to set up border checkpoints to stop the interstate movement of any banned SUP items. The Central Pollution Control Board has also launched a grievance redressal application to empower citizens to help curb the use of plastic. Officials said plastic used for packaging in the FMCG sector is not banned but will be covered under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidelines. The EPR is a producer’s responsibility to ensure environmentally-sound management of the...